Festool MFT - HZ 80 Clamps first look.

[reible]

I have a few MFT like tops that I use. One mounts on the shopsmith in place of a fixed extension table. They all have the 96mm spacing of 20mm holes. The holes and spacing allows a lot of clamping options. These new clamps add yet another way to clamp.

I've had them about a week now and have had just short time to play with them since my shop is essentially an ice box this time of year. But I was excited enough about them to go out and play with them a couple of time. Then tonight I decided to share a bit about them with a video. Sorry the production quality is lets say very amateur but then you get what you pay for....... it is free.

For all but my drill press MFT the clamps work as expected. Since I didn't have the clamps nor even envisioned them when I built the fixture it is not surprising that there is an issue. The space between the top and the base is too short so the clamps can not go in far enough, thus limiting how thin of material can be clamped. Watch the video for the work around.

I plan to redo the drill press fixture with longer dowels once things warm up, it is a really easy change, just take out the old dowels, cut new longer ones and put them in and done.

I really like the clamps. I got two of them and think this might be all I need of this type but I could see adding another one or two just to keep at the drill press. No rush on that.

https://youtu.be/HqgpMmzuv6A

Ed

[reible]

Not warm in the shop but I was excited about getting my drill fixture updated to fit the new clamps. Mission accomplished!

I don't recall if I showed building this or not??? Anyway while I was at it I took a couple of pictures which I will now share.

The fixture has a top with the 20mm holes and replaceable insert. The bottom is connected to the top with screws and dowels and the single larger dowel in the middle is not screwed in place.

np1.jpg (212.91 KiB) Viewed 1248 times

The 4 dowels are all the same length and 20 mm in diameter. The center dowel is 1" and shorter since it doesn't penetrate top.

np2.jpg (230.9 KiB) Viewed 1248 times

np3.jpg (236.33 KiB) Viewed 1248 times

The actual length of the 20mm dowels was made 1" longer. The precise length is not important but having them all the same length is. I set up to stop to get them that way.

np4.jpg (180.44 KiB) Viewed 1248 times

These dowels are hardwood so I needed to drill a pilot hole for the screw.

np5.jpg (160.19 KiB) Viewed 1248 times

I put it back together and made sure the space was sufficient for the new clamps. It was.

np6.jpg (208.9 KiB) Viewed 1248 times

np7.jpg (164.49 KiB) Viewed 1248 times

Nice to have this done. Feels good to be back in the shop for at least a short while.

Ed

[DLB]

I was curious about these clamps and found that they don't seem to be available in the U.S. market except as part of a larger (~$300) package. Did you get them from Axminster?

- David

[reible]

Yes but beware of the postage unless your order is large enough to get free shipping. They were back ordered for months. Not sure they have been officially launched in the US.

Ed